


Cassandra, Alone

by gaycatra



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Cassandra's POV, Cassandra-Centric, Character Study, Doing gay stuff in the woods, Experimentation, F/F, Hot ladies everywhere, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Elsa (Disney), Love Triangles, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Resolved Sexual Tension, Self-Discovery, Sexual Tension, Soul-Searching, funky little gay cassandra accidentally seducing women, lesbian cassandra, lust triangle more like :)))))
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:22:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28498239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaycatra/pseuds/gaycatra
Summary: After leaving Corona to find herself, Cassandra gets lost in the woods.
Relationships: Anna & Cassandra (Disney: Tangled), Anna/Cassandra (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra & Elsa (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra & Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra/Elsa (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra/Honeymaren (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Elsa & Honeymaren (Disney), Elsa/Honeymaren (Disney), Elsa/Honeymaren/Cassandra (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 85





	1. The Clever Nymph

The woods had not been kind to Cassandra.

As much as she _could_ survive in the barren wilderness using only her quick wits and the few supplies in her satchel, that didn’t mean she enjoyed it. After months of traveling with Rapunzel and her motley crew, she was used to a sore back from sleeping on the stony ground, mosquito bites lining any patch of bare skin like love bites on a hormonal teenager, and always being slightly damp for no real reason. She could handle this. She had done it for weeks on her own when she had taken the Moonstone. But the woods she found herself trekking through now were not like the woods on the outskirts of Corona. In a dense wood, there was always life lurking just below the surface; there were berries and small prey hiding in bushes, deer and rabbits peacefully sipping from a nearby creek, and cheerful songbirds flitting through the delicate leaves overhead.

But _these_ woods, these loose woods that felt eerily empty and devoid of life, with thin birch trees struggling to fill the space like a child wearing an uncomfortably large hand-me-down, these woods were a different breed entirely. Cassandra hadn’t been tracking her journey with a map (why chart a path when you don’t even know where you’re going to go?), but based on how far she had been travelling, she figured she must be somewhere far west of Corona and a good ways north of Arendelle. Thinking back to the maps of the Seven Kingdoms she had studied as a child, this area had always been left blank, meaning there must not be any major settlements here.

And Cassandra could see why. The woods were simply empty—there was not much wild game, nor many edible plants or medicinal herbs to forage. Cass was grateful she had had the foresight to buy extra food at the last town she had seen a little less than a week ago. She had only managed to catch a few measly hares the entire week, and they were skinny and hadn’t lasted her long. Her stomach growled, and she dreaded reaching into her bag for food, because she knew she was down to her last few handfuls of nuts and dried meat. She hadn’t passed by another traveler since she entered the woods and she was beginning to consider turning around and high-tailing it back to that little town.

Cassandra continued walking, as she had been for the past five days, through the woods, fingers slightly sore from the November chill. She was too stubborn to stop and put on her gloves, so to keep her hands occupied she unsheathed her sword and began slicing haphazardly at the small shrubs she passed by as she walked. The shrubs, like the trees overhead, had already shed most of their autumn foliage, and their tiny limbs snapped pathetically against the razor-sharp edge of Cassandra’s sword, plopping unceremoniously to the damp ground below.

And that was another thing she hated about these woods—it was _so_ _damp._ A light mist covered the woods at all times of day, and the sky was always gray overhead. Cassandra’s thick mop of black hair had long since poofed up like cotton candy from the humidity. Not that Cassandra, hardened and brave soldier that she was, cared about how she looked, but it was irritating all the same. Cassandra had had cold sweats for five straight days, because despite wearing her warmest cloak and scarf, the moisture seemed to seep into her clothes and stick to her skin. If it weren’t for her trusty compass, she would have no idea what direction she was walking, because everything tree and bush looked exactly the same. Someone less skilled than her could easily get lost in these woods.

As Cassandra walked, slashing her sword at the shrubs and piles of wet leaves on the ground as if she were physically punishing the putrid forest for sucking so much, she felt a familiar sense of existential dread creep up on her.

_What am I doing with my life?_ Cassandra thought to herself bitterly, flicking chunks of wet leaves off her sword and sheathing it. _This was supposed to be about finding my destiny. Is it my destiny to sulk through these woods until I run out of food and am forced to cut my own arm off and eat it to survive?_

_…Why am I always so morbid?_

Cassandra pushed the thoughts out of her mind. Her goal in leaving Corona was not just to find her physical place in the world; it was also to find a sense of purpose outside of…well, Rapunzel. As much as she hated to admit it, so much of her life had been spent revolving around Rapunzel. Whether it was as a child, as her friend, or as her enemy, she had been basing her identity off of Rapunzel in some way for as long as she could remember.

Unfortunately, inner clarity rarely comes with a satisfying resolution to your now shockingly obvious problem.

_I have to find out who I really am._ Cassandra repeated her mission to herself. _I have to find my purpose in life. I have to be my own person without her. I have to find…_

Her heart wanted to say _true love_ , but her mind would not allow it.

That seemed to be the never-ending conflict in Cassandra’s life. On one hand she wanted desperately to be her own person. Her desire for independence was so strong that it had been one of the main factors in betraying Rapunzel. But on the other hand, she wanted even more desperately to be loved, and not just in the way that Rapunzel already loved her. Sure, Rapunzel loved her, really and truly loved her, but not how she really and truly loved Eugene.

Cassandra’s breath hitched for a brief moment, but she continued walking silently, allowing herself to drown in these dangerous thoughts.

She fought a miniature war within herself. If she was alone, she was free, but she would never be whole without her “other half” (as Rapunzel had called Eugene). She had thought Rapunzel could be that for her, but as she held her in her arms for the last time just before setting out on her journey of self-discovery, she accepted deep down that Rapunzel could never be that for her.

That, in short, was her conflict; wanting to be the badass lone wolf she knew she could be, but also wanting to be loved like Eugene. The battle raging internally in Cassandra between these two desires had led her to make every mistake she had ever made. It was hard to be a stone-cold warrior who eats bowls of nails for breakfast while also fighting to suppress the hopeless romantic side of herself that got choked up every time Rapunzel’s hand accidentally brushed against her own.

Cassandra was ripped away from these thoughts by a sound unlike any she had ever heard. She instinctively crouched low to the ground and quietly crawled behind a scraggly bush for cover, straining her ears to make out the sound. It was soft and light, but sharp and slightly tinny as well, like the sound of a fresh blade being unsheathed. The sound floated through the air and seemed to dance through the trees like a playful spirit. After a few minutes, Cassandra decided to silently stalk the sound, wondering if it could be a plump little songbird humming a tune. Her stomach growled comically at the thought.

About fifty meters away, Cassandra found the source of the sound—she came upon a small clearing with an eerily still pond in the center. Peering out from behind the thickest birch tree she could fit herself behind, Cassandra was dumbfounded to see that the pond was not just still, but frozen solid, which was logically impossible, because it was only November and it was not nearly cold enough for water to freeze. But what was even stranger was the delicate figure perched at the edge of the ice, rustling quietly and singing a tune in a nonsensical language Cassandra could not understand. Still quite far away from the scene, Cassandra could not make out a clear silhouette of the figure, or perhaps her mind was still struggling to comprehend what she was seeing. All too suddenly, the tune stopped, and the creature spoke.

“You can come out now, Honeymaren. I’m not going to fall for the same prank twice.”

_A person? No, it can’t be. It doesn’t look human at all. It must be some kind of spirit. Or I’ve gone mad and it’s a hallucination…_

But then the creature moved, sliding upwards and elongating itself, rippling open like a drying linen sheet floating in the wind. Terrifyingly, it turned to face Cassandra, and she instinctively jerked herself back behind the birch and out of sight. She unsheathed her sword as quickly and as quietly as possible and prepared herself to dodge the attack as she listened to the soft, almost inaudible footsteps approach the tree. She decided she would have to leap out and try to launch a surprise attack, but she couldn’t accurately judge how far away the creature was based on its nearly silent footsteps. Just as she was about to jump, the creature rounded the edge of the tree.

“Well, you’re not Honeymaren,” Cassandra was frozen in fear—a beautiful woman had suddenly appeared before her. She was slightly taller than Cassandra was, and although her soft voice sounded human, her appearance suggested otherwise. Her hair was as white as snow and fell to the middle of her back in silky waves. Her large blue eyes and delicate face bore a curious look that lacked any ounce of fear, despite Cassandra’s blade being held at the ready less than an arm’s length away. She wore a white robe that, well—Cassandra glanced down at the woman’s robes, but they didn’t really look like robes after all. Thin white fabric hung loosely off the woman’s slender form, but as Cassandra searched along her shoulders and chest, she couldn’t seem to identify where the seam of the dress ended and the woman’s skin began. She tightened her grip on her sword and stood at the ready.

“What are you?” demanded Cassandra, backing away from the woman and raising her weapon.

“Woah, woah, slow down there. No need to get unfriendly.” The woman raised her small hands to signal that she was unarmed. Cassandra did not back down. At this point she had finally figured it out.

She was dealing with a forest nymph. She didn’t seem violent now, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try to seduce her and rip her intestines out while she slept—

_Again, why am I so morbid?_

Still, whatever her motive was, Cassandra couldn’t let her guard down around a nymph. She had heard plenty of stories of lonely lads wandering into a forest and falling in love with the scantily-clad nymphs who lurked in the trees. Only a thing of legend could be as beautiful and graceful as the figure standing before her today. Cassandra adjusted her grip on her sword and straightened herself. She took a few steps back, her eyes fixed on the nymph’s pale fingers. She had heard that nymphs could summon deadly vines that slowly strangle their victims to death. “Lower your hands.”

The nymph tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, seeming suspicious, but still utterly and agonizingly unafraid of Cassandra. “Alright,” the nymph’s hands dropped softly to her sides. “May I ask your name, traveler? It’s not often we see new faces in these parts.”

As threatened as Cassandra felt, a part of her wanted to tell the woman everything. She even opened her mouth to speak, but snapped it shut and stepped further back. “Do not try to seduce me, nymph. I am prepared to defend myself.”

The nymph chuckled and smiled. “Nymph? My name is Elsa.”

_No way…_

_…She named herself after that magical Arendellian queen? The one who abdicated the throne around this time last year?_

“If I may, traveler,” Elsa stepped closer to Cassandra, closing the gap that Cassandra had purposely created between them. “You seem tired, and I heard your stomach growl earlier. Would you like to accompany me back to the village where you can have some food and water and sit by a warm fire?”

Cassandra’s mind sputtered. _So she_ is _trying to seduce me! I won’t be tricked, wicked nymph!_ Overwhelmed by a sudden burst of adrenaline, Cassandra took her chance to attack, swiping her sword at the nymph’s left side. The nymph, faster than Cassandra thought was humanly possible, slipped just out of reach of the sword, narrowly dodging the blade. Cassandra countered and swiped the opposite direction, but the nymph nimbly jumped away once again. Before Cassandra could slash again, the nymph extended her hands out and towards the ground and a burst of cold air slapped Cassandra in the face. Momentarily stunned, she fumbled and slipped on the icy ground— _wait, the icy ground? When was the ground icy?_ Cassandra couldn’t finish the thought before her butt hit the ground hard and she slid ungracefully across the now-frozen-solid ground.

_Sheesh, a winter nymph? It’s not even winter yet. This is going to be harder than I thought._ But Cassandra was not one to surrender easily, so she used the slippery ground to her advantage and swung her legs around fast, swiping at the nymph’s ankles, slightly visible under the sheer, sparkly fabric floating over her lithe form. As she kicked Cassandra noticed the nymph wore a pair of small heels, and Cassandra suddenly remembered something Rapunzel told her ages ago when she scolded her for not wearing shoes outdoors: _forest nymphs don’t wear shoes either, you know._

She didn’t have time to process the thought before her heavy boot made contact with the nymph’s legs and sent her tumbling to the ground. The nymph was quick to recover, however, and swiftly rolled herself away as Cassandra regained her footing and stood back up, careful not to slip on the ice again. What was that thing she just remembered?

_Nymphs don’t wear high heels._

_Her name is Elsa, like that one queen of Arendelle, who had magic powers. She could control fire with her mind._

_No, wait, it wasn’t fire, it was ice—_

In her moment of hesitation, the nymph had quietly leapt back up without Cassandra noticing. The clever nymph took the opportunity to land a hard punch directly to Cassandra’s nose, not strong enough to break it, but strong enough that blood started gushing out, splattering onto the ice below. Cassandra cursed and flung her arms up to her cover her face, which caused her to lose her balance and topple over once again, landing flat on her back this time. Her sword clattered to the ground and slid just out of reach.

“Your majesty,” she huffed, plugging her bleeding nose with her hand. She couldn’t see where Elsa was standing, so she rolled onto her side and curled herself up as small as she could to appear as non-threatening as possible. “I didn’t know it was you. I surrender. Please, I surrender!”

Cassandra closed her eyes, expecting a cold and icy death to take her away from this cruel world. _At least I went at the hands of a beautiful woman…_

But instead of meeting God on the other side, Cassandra felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder.

Elsa laughed. “You know, I’ve never been mistaken for a nymph before. Although I suppose I fit the description.” Elsa gently pulled Cassandra’s shoulder, ushering her to roll over and face her. Cassandra clenched her muscles and refused to turn, still terrified of the Snow Queen’s icy rage at the arrogant traveler who dared to attack her.

“Hey, really, it’s okay. You’re hurt. Please, let me help you,” The voice sounded so sincere and calming that Cassandra actually did relax her body and allow the queen to pull her up into a sitting position.

“I-I’m alright,” Cassandra stammered. “It’s not broken,” Suddenly realizing herself, she fumbled and slipped around on the ice to raise her knee and kneel. “Your majesty, I have disgraced you with my arrogance and foolishness. I accept an appropriate punishment of at least two hundred lashes for recklessly attacking the queen of Arendelle.” Her knee slipped out from underneath her, but Elsa’s thin yet strong arms caught her.

Elsa laughed. “How noble of you! However, I’m not the queen anymore. And even when I was the queen, I never gave anyone lashes. I just made all the criminals do community service.” Finally, Elsa waved her hand and the ice disappeared from the ground. The sudden traction beneath her knees gave Cassandra the confidence to reach into her satchel, miraculously still in its place on her waist, and pull out her handkerchief to sop up her bloody nose.

_That’s right, she abdicated the throne._ Cassandra had heard a rumor about the magical queen leaving the throne, but hadn’t been interested enough in the story to find out more. “My lady, if I may be so bold, why are you out here in the forest all by yourself?”

“I come here sometimes to think, and to sing, and to be with nature.” Elsa looked lovingly at the naked birch trees overhead. “The Northuldra camp can be hectic this time of year. It’s nice to have some time to myself,” Cassandra had no idea what a “Northuldra” was. Elsa stood and held out her hand for the wounded Cassandra. “My dear traveler, I do not believe you have told me your name.”

Cassandra took her hand and stood, removing the bloodied handkerchief from her face. Her nose had thankfully stopped bleeding. “My name is Cassandra. I am on a journey to find my purpose.”

“A journey to find your purpose? That sounds quite familiar to me.” The Snow Queen laughed again. Despite her regal demeanor, Elsa’s laugh was comfortable and warm, like the laughter of an old friend. It relaxed Cassandra’s pounding heartbeat. “Well, let’s get you back to the camp so we can get you patched up and fed, it isn’t far from here. We can talk later, Cassandra.”

Elsa turned to lead Cassandra in the direction of the camp, and it was only then that Cassandra suddenly realized she was still holding the former queen’s hand. She quickly dropped it, not wanting to make Elsa uncomfortable after she had just generously spared Cassandra’s life. Elsa glanced back and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, and the two departed the clearing in a comfortable silence, Elsa leading the way and gliding through the trees towards the camp. Cassandra’s eyes were fixed on Elsa the entire time; next to the barren woods that had bored her for days, Cassandra couldn’t bear to look anywhere else but the curvaceous silhouette of the Snow Queen. Her silky white dress seemed to glitter in the gray light of the overcast sky, and her hair floated graciously behind her like a cape. Her soft footsteps made almost no noise on the damp ground, and it made Cassandra’s heavy steps painfully loud by comparison.

It was no wonder Cassandra had mistaken her for a forest spirit—Elsa truly didn’t seem human. There was something ethereal and mysterious about her pale form. It was curious, but threatening, too. It made Cassandra’s heart skip beats and her palms shake with nervous excitement.

Cassandra quickly wiped her face and smoothed her ragged hair as best she could. She had already made an absolute fool out of herself in front of one of the most beautiful and powerful women she’d ever seen. She had to do her best not to blow it like she had with Rapunzel.

_Rapunzel would’ve realized it was the queen. She would laugh at me right now._ She imagined Rapunzel’s bubbling laugh, her freckled nose scrunched up, with tears of laughter beginning to leak from her green eyes. Cassandra missed her so much, but she was determined to make something of herself before she returned to Corona and heard that laugh again.

Elsa’s small, comfortable laugh was nothing like Rapunzel’s sweet giggles, and that was more than fine for Cassandra.

Perhaps Elsa was the change she was searching for.


	2. Sway With Me

Cassandra’s wistful daydreams of the Snow Queen’s laughter were interrupted by their arrival at the Northuldra camp. A clearing in the forest of perhaps fifty meters was populated by a tiny village settlement. The tents looked different than any Cassandra had ever seen in Corona. The people, too—walking from tent to tent, tending to small camp fires, doing chores, and socializing, the small camp was buzzing with activity from the lively Northuldra people. As Cassandra and Elsa approached, the villagers turned to look at her with cautious, yet unafraid faces. A young child hid behind its mother’s leg as Cassandra’s heavy footsteps clunk-clunk-clunked past, following Elsa into one of the tents.

A middle-aged Northuldra woman with thick black locks tied into a tight braid was inside, sorting through small packets of herbs lain out on a blanket. “This is our healer, Rana. She’ll help get you cleaned up,” The woman looked up and down at Cassandra, eyes lingering on her definitely-messed-up hair. Rana’s intense face was offset by kind eyes, and although Cassandra was on edge in the unfamiliar camp, she felt like she could trust her.

Elsa whispered something to Rana, and then turned back to Cassandra. “Would you like me to bring you some food?”

Cassandra was starving, but her pride wouldn’t let her ask Elsa to bring her food, especially not after how she had attacked her earlier. “Thank you, but I’m alright. Your generosity is too—“ she was interrupted by the sound of her own stomach growling.

Elsa hummed, looking unsatisfied. She drifted out of the tent, a cool breeze leaking through the opening, and Cassandra shivered. Rana must have noticed, because she ushered Cassandra to sit.

Rana used a damp cloth to gently clean Cassandra’s face and hands. Judging by the state of the cloth after she had finished, there must have been a bunch of dried blood on her chin and neck. Cassandra’s face burned at the thought that Elsa definitely saw it.

Rana took a small hairbrush and moved to brush Cassandra’s hair, but Cassandra instinctively blocked her hand. “No way.”

“Your hair is a mess. If I don’t do something to it, it will become matted and I’ll have to shear it all off of you.” That shut Cassandra up. She sighed and allowed Rana to gently brush out the knots in her hair, and said nothing as the woman skillfully pulled the hair into two small braids on either side of her head. Her hair was still too short to pass her shoulders, but it was just long enough to stay put in the braids, and it had the added benefit of keeping her hair out of her face.

_Now I get why Rapunzel always wanted to braid my hair._ Her hair had never been quite long enough for Rapunzel to get her wish; it had grown a few inches in the weeks since she had left Corona, and she hadn’t bothered to hack at it with her sword to trim it, so it was now just long enough for Rana to work her magic.

“You know, I don’t even know why I asked what you wanted. I was going to bring you something no matter what you said,” a voice entering the tent said. Cassandra turned to see Elsa carrying a satchel of food, with chunks of meat, bread, and various seasonal vegetables and fruits. Rana tied off the second braid and Cassandra stood to greet Elsa.

“You look… quite strapping,” Cassandra thought she heard Elsa’s voice falter for a moment as she took in her new hairstyle. “It suits you.”

“Thank you. For the food. And, um, for the compliment. Your highness.” Cassandra wanted to kick herself in the face.

“You’re welcome, Cassandra. And please, call me Elsa.” Cassandra’s mind wandered to the thought of Elsa’s name on her tongue, the way the light sound rolled and floated through the air, just like Elsa herself seemed to. “Please, come sit and eat by the fire.”

Cassandra turned and thanked Rana for her help, then followed Elsa out of the tent. They sat by a small fire next to an older woman, who was knitting some kind of garment out of rich burgundy thread, and a few teenagers, who were fighting each other over a few pieces of particularly ripe fruit. They all stared tentatively at Cassandra when she sat, but Elsa spoke some words of reassurance and they turned back to their business. Cassandra began to eat, and it took every ounce of strength she had left in her not to wolf everything down like an animal (an unthinkable act to commit in front of the regal Snow Queen).

They sat in comfortable silence until Cassandra had eaten her fill. “So,” Elsa said, absent-mindedly stroking at the end of the woman beside her’s knitting, “tell me all about this quest of yours.”

Cassandra cleared her throat. “Well, I come from Corona.”

Elsa’s gentle eyes lit up. “Oh, Corona is a beautiful kingdom. Their queen came to my coronation years ago. She was so kind.” Her voice was nostalgic and soft.

“Y-Yeah, the queen. She’s great.” Cassandra didn’t know if she felt relieved or mortified that Elsa knew Rapunzel personally. At least she didn’t have to try to put into words Rapunzel’s indescribable charm. “I used to work for her. I was her handmaiden.”

“Her handmaiden? That doesn’t sound like it suits you very much.”

“It didn’t. I left,” Cassandra sighed. “I left to find myself. I’m trying to find some kind of purpose. Something besides Rapunzel…the queen.” Cassandra caught herself.

“Well, how has that gone for you so far?” Elsa shifted slightly closer the Cassandra, dropping the knitting beside her.

“To be honest, not that great. I’ve been walking for weeks and haven’t found anything that looks like it could be my destiny. And then I got lost in the woods and punched in the face by a nymph.” Elsa laughed, and it warmed Cassandra’s chest. She prayed she wasn’t blushing.

“You know, if you’re looking for a job, you could stay here for a while as my bodyguard. Just a temporary thing until you find some _purpose_.” Elsa’s large blue eyes peered at Cassandra inquisitively.

“You want me to be _your_ bodyguard? You took me down in minutes! A lot of good I’d do to protect you from anything.” Cassandra was embarrassed to admit it, but she knew the truth when it punched her in the face. Literally.

“I know. But I like having you around.” Cassandra’s heart felt like it would burst out of her chest at any moment. She wondered if Elsa could hear it pounding.

“Well…” Cassandra rubbed her neck. “I can’t be your bodyguard. I serve no one but myself,” Elsa huffed, clearly disappointed. “But I will stay for a while. As…a friend.”

Elsa smiled, and her eyes sparkled. “As a friend. I like that.” The fire crackled, and despite the other people sitting across from them at the campfire, the moment felt very private. Cassandra’s eyes lingered down to Elsa’s pink lips, to her sharp jawline, to her delicate collarbones, to her chest, rising and falling in a slow, even rhythm. When she glanced back up at Elsa’s face, her eyes were slightly low, as if fixed on Cassandra’s lips.

“Made a new friend, Elsa?” an unfamiliar voice shook the two women away from each other as a tall Northuldra warrior took a seat next to Elsa. It was beautiful young woman, probably in her twenties, with a soft face and a thick black braid similar to Rana’s. Her skin was a rich tan peppered with the occasional small freckle, and she wore tight natural leather clothing that revealed her slim, toned frame. She had a mischievous air about her, like she would be the type to prank you, but you would always forgive her for it.

“Honeymaren,” Elsa’s voice sounded delighted to see her. “This is Cassandra. She’s on a quest to find herself.”

“A quest? Sounds dangerous,” Honeymaren grinned. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing on a quest?”

Cassandra sputtered and the two friends giggled at her.

“Don’t hurt yourself, I’m only kidding,” Honeymaren wrapped an arm around Elsa’s shoulder. “She’s a bit stiff, isn’t she, El?”

A knot twisted itself in Cassandra’s stomach. These two must be quite close. The thought of touching the Snow Queen like that so casually both frightened and excited her. Cassandra moved to smooth her hair, but was momentarily surprised to feel the texture of her new braids, so she ended up awkwardly petting her own head. “Sorry. I’ve been travelling all day, and I’m quite tired.”

Honeymaren looked amused. “I see. Well, I suppose I won’t force you to talk about your tragic past if you don’t want to.” Cassandra actually smiled at that. She was starting to warm up to the girl, even though her closeness with Elsa made her skin crawl. “Anyone want some mulled wine? Yelena just brought in a fresh batch this morning and I’m the only one who knows where it’s hidden!”

Before anyone could respond, she leapt up and took off, presumably in the direction of Yelena’s hidden stash of spirits. Elsa giggled softly. “Oh, Honeymaren. She always knows how to break people out of their shell. She seems a little overbearing now, but trust me, you’ll fall in love with her soon enough.”

Cassandra wondered if her choice of words had a double meaning.

After a few minutes Honeymaren returned bearing three of the largest goblets of wine Cassandra had ever seen. She was tired and didn’t really want to drink, but she had already been so rude that day that she found it impossible to reject Honeymaren’s sincere invitation.

A few goblets of wine later, and Cassandra felt warm inside and out.

The fire blazed before her, and as the gray sky darkened for the night, more villagers gathered in the clearing, sharing food, wine, and stories. A group of villagers even dragged out a set of drums and instruments and began playing lively tunes, prompting people to start dancing to the music. Honeymaren perked up at this.

“Oh, I love this song! Come on, let’s go dance!” She grabbed Cassandra and Elsa’s hands with each of her own and began tugging them towards the band. Elsa dropped her hand and stood reluctantly, but Cassandra hesitated.

“No, no, sorry, but I don’t dance,” Cassandra tried to pull her hand away, but Honeymaren’s grip was surprisingly strong. “Really. I’ll just embarrass myself even more. I don’t even know _how_ to dance.”

Cassandra’s complaints were for naught, however; a quick tug from Honeymaren sent her careening onto her feet, stumbling towards the space in the crowd that had been cleared for dancers. “Honeymaren, wait—!” Before she had time to protest, Honeymaren had grabbed her other hand and steadied her (an impressive feat considering how dizzy Cassandra felt from all the wine), and pulled her close, wrapping one hand around her waist.

Cassandra’s stomach flopped at the feeling of Honeymaren’s strong body suddenly pressed against her own. Just when she thought she could handle it, Honeymaren leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry. Just follow my lead.”

Cassandra had never been so glad to be intoxicated before in her entire life. She wasn’t drunk, but she was just tipsy enough to have the confidence to rest her hand firmly on Honeymaren’s shoulder, feeling the firm muscle moving beneath her skin as they began to dance.

Perhaps “dancing” wasn’t necessarily the right word for it—it was more like swaying rhythmically to the beat of the band’s fiery tune, without many flashy moves added in. Elsa was dancing with a group of teens and kids nearby, amusing them with silly gestures and encouraging them to dance with her. Cassandra was glad that she wasn’t taking it very seriously; Honeymaren, on the other hand, seemed to have a razor sharp focus on Cassandra. Her rich brown eyes were flicking back and forth between Cassandra’s face and her hands, soaking her in as they danced. Cassandra quickly glanced around, and, noticing that no one in the crowd was watching them in particular, decided to match her energy.

She leaned her face onto the space between Honeymaren’s neck and her shoulder. “You know,” she hummed, turning her head just enough so that her lips brushed Honeymaren’s ear just so, “I lied before. I’m well trained in classical dance forms,” Honeymaren’s footsteps faltered, and Cassandra took the opportunity to swap their positions, taking the lead in the dance. “Hang on tight.”

“Hang on to wh—“ before Honeymaren could finish, Cassandra twirled the two of them around and dipped forwards, supporting Honeymaren’s weight with a firm hold on her waist. Conveniently, the band’s song entered a crescendo at that exact moment. Cassandra glanced up and saw Elsa had been distracted from the group of kids and was now intently watching their dance, a hungry expression on her face. Cassandra grinned.

They held the pose for a moment, Cassandra taking in Honeymaren’s stunned-but-delighted expression until she could no longer comfortably carry Honeymaren’s weight, and she pulled her back up and twirled her around in her arms. Reeling from the rush of putting on a little show for Elsa, Cassandra was caught off guard when she found herself mere inches away from Honeymaren’s face, panting, the song’s last triumphant chord echoing through the clearing.

The crowd of villagers erupted into applause, and Cassandra’s face burned, but she didn’t dare turn away from Honeymaren’s intense stare. She glanced down at her lips as she felt Honeymaren’s arm on her waist wander lower, her fingers exploring the folds in the fabric of her shirt, which had long since come untucked from her trousers.

“ _Ahem,”_ the applause died down as Elsa approached, and her freezing cold hand on Cassandra’s shoulder snapped her out of her trance. She jerked herself away from Honeymaren on instinct. “You two certainly warmed up to each other.” Cassandra was surprised and slightly disappointed to hear that she sounded amused and not jealous.

Honeymaren’s hand was still gripping Cassandra’s loose shirt tail, and Cassandra’s heart fluttered when she noticed it. Looking back at Honeymaren, her eyes were glassy and her skin seemed to glow from the sweat they had worked up dancing. She was still panting and the way her eyes raked up and down Cassandra’s body made her feel as exposed as if she were standing there naked.

Cassandra quickly pushed the thought of being naked out of her mind. Honeymaren seemed to have collected herself, because she suddenly attacked Cassandra with a hug, wrapping her arms around her and squeezing hard. “That was so FUN! You’re an amazing dancer, Cass!”

Cassandra didn’t even notice that no one had called her by that name since she left Rapunzel standing in her tattered bedroom in Corona.

“You were great, too,” she patted Honeymaren awkwardly on the back. The thrill of the dance had worn off, and she was embarrassed to be so physically intimate with the woman in front of the villagers. The band started up a quiet tune in the background, easing the crowd to relax. Without letting go of Honeymaren, Cassandra met Elsa’s eyes, and noticed that her eyes were slightly glazed too, just like Honeymaren’s had been. “I’ll have to dance with you next time, Elsa.”

Elsa smiled and winked at her. Cassandra blushed, but she was sure her face was already bright red from all the drinking and dancing, so she didn’t feel embarrassed. Honeymaren pulled back slightly and turned to whisper in Cassandra’s ear.

“Come back to my room with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *michael buble voice* WHEN MARIMBA RHYTHMS START TO PLAY DANCE WITH MEEE MAKE ME SWAYYYY LIKE A LAZY OCEAN HUGS THE SHORE HOLD ME CLOSE SWAY ME MOREEEE


	3. The Cold Hot Spring

Cassandra had felt so confident after her dance with Honeymaren; the rush of it all had gone to her head and inflated her ego, so the emotional walls she normally built up around strangers had been temporarily lowered. Honeymaren’s blunt question, though it was not necessarily totally unwanted, rocked Cassandra’s defenseless heart to its very core.

“What?” Cassandra wasn’t sure what else to say. She pulled away from Honeymaren, her heart pounding. It was ironic how quickly her feelings had transitioned from exhilarating excitement to paralyzing fear. Perhaps, at their core, the two emotions were the same.

"O-Oh, I’m so sorry,” Honeymaren had immediately noticed the look of concern on Cassandra’s face. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. That was way too forward. I’m sorry.” She was backpedaling, and Cassandra felt a little bad. She knew it was normal to need time to get to know people before trusting them, but she wished deep down she could be the kind of fearless girl who would have accepted Honeymaren’s proposal. “Listen, I’m pretty wasted right now. But I’ve had a great time with you tonight. You should come riding with me and Elsa tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Cassandra supposed she had no choice but to stay the night—and probably a few days longer—at the Northuldra camp. Buddying up to two beautiful women certainly beat angrily stomping through the woods with no food and no one to talk to but dying shrubs. “I’d like that. And thank you. For dancing with me, I mean,” _Shoot, this is awkward now. I’ve got to save it._ “Um, I’m not mad or anything. I like you too. I just…want to get to know you, and Elsa.”

Honeymaren smiled sweetly. “Of course.” The mellow tune of the band swayed in the background. Cassandra glanced around and noticed people were beginning to retreat to their tents, and she spotted Elsa ushering the group of kids to bed. Honeymaren’s hand dropped from Cassandra’s shoulder and idly wrapped itself around Cassandra’s fingers. Cassandra not-so-casually looked away so that Honeymaren wouldn’t notice the cheeky grin on her face.

“Let’s find you somewhere to sleep. You’re probably exhausted.” Honeymaren moved to leave the dying party. Elsa trotted back, having successfully forced the kids to get in bed.

“We’ve got free beds in the kid’s tent, the elder’s quarters, and the medicine tent,” Elsa said. “The elders snore and the kids stay up half the night whispering, so the medicine tent is probably your best bet.”

“Thank you for your hospitality. You have welcomed me into your home even after the upmost disrespect I showed you today. I am in your debt, both of you.” Cassandra looked at the two women standing before her. Her heart swelled looking at the two of them. They had both accepted her and broke bread with her as if she was one of their own. It was the first instance of true kindness Cassandra had felt since leaving Corona. Since leaving Rapunzel.

Elsa blushed, and Honeymaren pretended to fan herself. “What a valiant knight you are!” Cassandra was growing fond of Honeymaren’s tease-flirting. “We’re happy to have you here. And trust me, we’ve been so bored lately, you are a much-needed change of pace.”

"It’s true. We’ve even planned a surprise visit to my sister because there’s nothing to do around here these days.” Elsa yawned.

_Her sister…? Which of her siblings took the throne when she abdicated again?_ Cassandra was too exhausted and intoxicated to remember.

“I’d better get to bed. The medicine tent is that way, right?” she pointed in the vague direction of the tent.

“Yep. Sleep tight, Cass. We’ll leave a little after dawn, okay?” Honeymaren dropped Cassandra’s hand. The sudden sensation of absence on her fingers was strange.

“You too. Goodnight, Honeymaren, Elsa.” Cassandra nodded to the two women, and headed back to the medicine tent. Her head was reeling with thoughts, but one in particular stuck out in her mind:

_I think that was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life._

♡♡♡

Sleeping in the medicine tent was not as bad as it sounded. There were plush fur blankets and pillows, and the thick tent walls blocked out the cold and moisture from seeping into Cassandra’s undershirt as she slept. The smell of strange herbs and residual campfire scent lulled Cassandra to sleep (as well as the alcohol finally taking over her body and knocking her out).

Cassandra woke to a quiet rustling entering the tent. Out of habit, she leapt up and shook herself awake, only to see Rana quietly bringing in some herbs. The light outside the tent was still dim in the cloudy early morning light, so it was probably a good time to get up and bathe herself before heading to meet Elsa and Honeymaren.

She said a quick word to Rana before shrugging on her clothes and slipping out of the tent in the direction of the small lake where she had first discovered Elsa just the day before. She made sure to memorize the path exactly and even used her compass to make sure she didn’t get lost again. When she got there, she quickly took off all her clothes except for her underwear and the undershirt she’d slept in, and dipped her toes tentatively in the water.

_Fuck, it’s freezing!_ Cassandra groaned. She didn’t have time to go back to the camp and ask where another good place to bathe was, so she decided to just grin and bear it. Taking a deep breath, she waded into the pond, the freezing water engulfing her body, the cold touching her bones.

Cassandra washed herself as quickly as she could, not bothering to undo the braids in her hair that had miraculously remained intact since the night before. Once she undid them, she would never be able to do them up again herself, so she figured she’d just leave them for now.

She started at a rustling sound in the distance, and she submerged herself to her nose to hide herself, in hopes that whoever was coming wouldn’t see her slightly-nude body. Much to Cassandra’s chagrin, Elsa drifted into the clearing in a white and teal riding suit adorned with sequins and glitter and sparkles and whatever magic made Elsa look like _that_.

“Elsa,” Cassandra started, not sure what she would say. Luckily, the queen answered for her.

“Cassandra. I apologize, I didn’t mean to intrude.” Elsa turned away politely, but made no motion to leave. “I come here every morning to get away from the hustle and bustle of the camp. No one else comes here because the water is always so cold.” She giggled.

Cassandra blushed, and she was glad Elsa couldn’t see her. “Sorry. I just needed to come somewhere private. I’m not used to being around so many people.”

“I understand,” Elsa turned to peak at her, and slowly approached the edge of the pond. “Do you mind if I join you? I would like to refresh myself before we meet with Honeymaren.”

Cassandra’s heart fluttered. She was ever so grateful that she had kept her underwear on, or else she would never have been brave enough to share the small pond with the Snow Queen. “Of course. I’m almost done anyways.”

“Alright,” without warning, Elsa began to undress, and Cassandra whipped her head away, despite every muscle in her body begging her eyes to look. _I’m not going to act like some kind of pervert in front of the queen…_

“You know, I’ve heard women in Corona are very private about their bodies. Is that true?” Elsa waded into the pool from the other side, sighing as if the freezing cold water was a hot spring. “In Arendelle, we aren’t so shy. We love our nude saunas.”

“Y-Yeah, Coronans don’t have those.” Cassandra carefully glanced at Elsa and relaxed significantly when she noticed the queen had also kept her underwear on, though the small lace garments left little to the imagination. An awkward silence fell over the pond.

Desperate to break the tension, Cassandra blurted, “How long have you known Honeymaren?”

Elsa smiled. “Honeymaren is quite dear to me. Around a year ago, she helped me find myself, when I was on a quest of my own.” She gave Cassandra a knowing look. “So, why are you _really_ on a quest?”

“Huh?” Cassandra tilted her head. “I told you. To find who I am. To find my destiny, or something.”

“That’s not the real reason. People who go on quests are either running from something, or running towards it. I’ve done both before,” Elsa gently stroked her arm with the water. “So, which are you?”

Cassandra sighed. There was no use lying to someone who seemed to see right through her. “Running away. But I’d like to think what I’m doing is braver than that.” She thought for a moment, forming her sentences carefully. “I was in love. But she didn’t love me back. And I did bad things. A _lot_ of bad things. She forgave me, but…it’s going to take me a while to fully forgive myself.”

“That’s quite interesting. I never took you for a hopeless romantic.”

“Neither did I.” Cassandra’s toes were starting to feel numb, so she waded out of the pool and shook herself off, waiting for some of the water to dry before putting her clothes back on. “She was the only woman I’ve ever loved. I thought she was the only woman I would _ever_ love.”

“Mmm…” Elsa smiled sadly. “You know, you remind me a little of my sister.” Elsa leaned back in the pond to float on her back, her hair floating around her like vines on the forest floor. “She’s a hopeless romantic too. She always had this idea of who she would fall in love with, and that once she found him, she would be happy, and she wouldn’t need anyone else. ‘The one,’ she said.”

Now that Elsa wasn’t looking, Cassandra took the chance to take off her underwear and quickly squeeze the water out of them.

“She thought she met the one, but it turned out he wasn’t. And she was so heartbroken. But she kept her heart open, and she’s met so many people that she’s loved and cherished since then. She even found someone she calls her soulmate.” Cassandra paused squeezing her undershirt, intrigued by the story. “But she once told me that the reason he’s so special to her is because she loves him for who he is as a person, and not simply because he can fulfill the role of being ‘the one.’”

Elsa quietly stood and waded out of the pond. Cassandra flailed to cover herself, even though she knew the Snow Queen meant no harm in seeing her like this, as that was considered a normal thing for women to do in her culture. Cassandra was still damp and freezing cold.

“Here, allow me.” The queen made an elegant movement with her hand, and Cassandra suddenly felt a tingling sensation across her body. She was amazed as droplets of water magically lifted off her skin, glistening in the early morning light as they turned into tiny snowflakes and then dissolved into the air. Cassandra shivered as the moving water tickled her skin like the fingers of a mischievous lover. A few moments later, Cassandra was completely dry.

“That was incredible!” Cassandra said as Elsa did the same to herself. The discomfort she had felt due to her nudity was slowly fading as she continued to talk to Elsa.

“Thanks. It comes in handy.” Elsa smiled and turned to dress herself. Cassandra did the same, and a few minutes later the two were clean and dressed, prepared to ride.

As they walked back to the camp, Cassandra thought about what Elsa had told her. She had spent so long thinking that Rapunzel was the one, and without her, she would never fall in love like that again. She hadn’t noticed before, but perhaps at some point she had stopped loving Rapunzel for being Rapunzel and started loving her for fulfilling the role she had decided for her—the one. And when she realized Rapunzel couldn’t be that for her, she had felt like no one would ever fill the same void in her heart.

But things felt different with Elsa. She felt like a breath of freezing cold fresh air after being holed up inside next to a hot fire. She felt like the first gentle snowfall of the winter season. She felt like the joy of finding out work was cancelled due to a snowstorm. She felt dangerous and mysterious but warm and gentle and kind as well.

And then there was Honeymaren—playful and mischievous, but with a caring heart and a soothing touch. And _she_ felt so different. Like laughing at an inside joke with your best friend; like dancing in the rain and not caring if your clothes got soaked; like the first big bite of a delicious plate of food.

Cassandra was torn. On one hand, Honeymaren had clearly made advances toward her the night before. But Elsa seemed to be into her too. And neither of them seemed to care that the other was also pursuing the same wayward traveler.

She shook her head. She was getting ahead of herself. _For Christ’s sake, I’ve never even kissed a girl…let alone gone back to her room with her._

Cassandra glanced at Elsa, who was walking a few paces ahead of her. Her eyes trailed slowly down her body, from her silky white hair, to her dainty shoulders, to her slender back, to her—well.

Cassandra wondered what it would be like to be with a woman like _that._ What would it feel like to run her hands through that long hair? To let her hands wander wherever they dared to explore? To run her fingers along Elsa’s lacy undergarments and…

Cassandra tore her eyes away from Elsa and fixed them to the muddy, leafy ground. It was _much_ too early to be thinking such thoughts. If she wanted to be able to look Elsa in the eye, she’d better keep her mind out of the gutter. But, alas, that was easier said than done. This time her mind wandered to Honeymaren, picturing her strong body glistening with sweat after the dance, and the feeling of her hot breath against Cassandra’s neck.

Much to Cassandra’s horror, a cheerful Honeymaren met them at the entrance to the camp. Cassandra shook her head as if she could expel her impure thoughts physically.

“Good morning, you two! How’d you sleep, Cassandra?” Honeymaren’s innocent question made Cassandra’s stomach well up with guilt.

Cassandra coughed awkwardly. “Great, thanks. It was nice to have shelter for once and not have to sleep on the damp ground.” Honeymaren laughed, and Cassandra relaxed slightly.

“Nice riding suit, my lady,” Honeymaren teased Elsa. Now that she examined it closer, Elsa’s riding suit was simple, but the fabric looked quite high quality. She cringed thinking about how long it must have taken some poor seamstress to sew it (Cassandra absolutely _despised_ sewing).

“Thanks. It was a gift from my sister. She has great taste,” Elsa twirled around, as if modeling the fine piece. “It would look cooler with a cape, though.”

“You and your capes! You are absolutely insufferable!” Honeymaren laughed and play-punched Elsa’s shoulder. Cassandra felt a bit uncomfortable about how casual Honeymaren was around the stiff and regal Elsa. “One of these days it’s going to get stuck on something and you’ll fall flat on your ass. And I’ll be there to laugh at you.”

“Oh, please. My capes are made of ice. They’d tear off before they pulled me down.” Elsa smirked. “How about I give you a nice cape to ride with today?”

Honeymaren’s eyes grew wide. “No way! I don’t need your stupid cape!” She ran to hide behind Cassandra, who was watching the conversation dumbfounded. “Give one to Cass instead!”

Elsa hummed. “What do you think, Cassandra? Cape or no cape?” Cassandra tilted her head and tried to picture a cape made of ice. She couldn’t get passed an image of Elsa with a thick sheet of ice stuck to her back, and that made no sense.

“I… guess I like capes? They can be cool,” she said, pulling at her collar awkwardly.

“Alright then. Honeymaren, if you don’t mind moving so I can work my magic,” Elsa wiggled an eyebrow at Cassandra suggestively, and Honeymaren sidestepped a few feet away. The next thing she knew, Elsa waved her hand and a burst of tiny sparkles descended upon Cassandra, shrouding her body. She watched, amazed, as the sparkles condensed and solidified themselves into a thin fabric covering her body. It was a sheer hooded cape, with enough fabric to wrap around her shoulders and cover her head, but it was so thin and transparent that Cassandra doubted it would do anything to protect her from inclement weather. Cassandra lifted the fabric to examine it closer and found it was covered in an intricate snowflake pattern that glistened in the mid-morning light.

“It’s so beautiful.” Cassandra’s eyes followed the pattern along the cape. She spun around, watching it flow and shift and sparkle as she moved.

“You are,” Elsa smiled. Cassandra turned to meet her Elsa’s gaze and blushed at her soft expression.

“T-Thank you. Really.” Cassandra rarely felt _pretty_ ; the closest she got was usually _handsome_ or _badass_ , and she tended to prefer those anyways. But this cloak made her feel like an ethereal fairy princess even though she wore muddy, clunky boots that stomped when she walked.

“Just wait until that thing gets caught under a reindeer hoof. You won’t be so grateful then.” Honeymaren chided, dead-set on defending her anti-cape manifesto.

“Honeymaren, if that happens, I’ll clean your tent for a month. Let’s get going before Ryder lets all the reindeer out to graze.” Elsa turned and began walking, presumably in the direction of the reindeer.

“You are _so_ on!” Honeymaren and Cassandra started after her. “You know,” Honeymaren continued, turning to look at Cassandra’s cloak, “Teal blue looks really good on you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being longer than I thought it would so I split it into two parts. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> BTW, this may or may not end up turning into smut depending on if I can muster up the courage to write smut. Only time will tell.


	4. The Biggest Loser

A few minutes’ walk away from the camp was a large field where a herd of reindeer was grazing peacefully on the glen. A small stream trickled through the grass, and Cassandra’s eyes softened at the sight of a baby reindeer stopping to drink with its mother.

“Quite a nice herd you have here,” Cassandra remarked. She’d always loved horseback riding, and was interested to try riding a reindeer. She just hoped she hadn’t forgotten how to ride bareback.

“Thanks. My brother, Ryder, takes care of them. In fact, he should be around here somewhere…” Honeymaren looked around, presumably searching for Ryder. “Oh, there he is!” She pointed to a tree stump at the edge of the clearing some distance away, where a man sat holding a reindeer by the foot, carving away at the grime under its hoof.

Honeymaren ran towards Ryder at full speed and leaped onto him, attacking him into a bear hug. “OWWWW OW OW OW, HONEYMAREN, GET OFF!” Ryder’s voice sounded younger than he looked, but it may have also had to do with how childish the two siblings were acting. Elsa giggled softly, and Cassandra wondered if the regal Snow Queen acted like that with her sister, the queen of Arendelle. The thought seemed too bizarre to picture.

After a minor tickle fight, Ryder showed Honeymaren and Cassandra to two reindeer. One was Honeymaren’s favorite that she rode most days, and the other was “the most friendly to strangers,” according to Ryder. Cassandra looked the gigantic deer square in the eye and thought about valiantly riding through the forest with her enemy’s head impaled on his antlers. The enemy may or may not have been Eugene.

“Wait, what about Elsa? Aren’t you going to ride with us?” Cassandra asked, confused.

"Oh, I almost forgot!” Elsa turned and walked in the direction of the stream. Cassandra wondered if she was planning to ride the mother deer. _What an odd choice of steed…_

Cassandra watched, shocked, as Elsa crouched, dipped her hand into the water and spoke a few soft words. As she stood, the water stood with her—a transient form lifted itself into the air, bubbling and growing, sploshing and splooshing itself into the shape of a liquidy horse. Cassandra inhaled sharply and Honeymaren nudged her arm, grinning and wiggling her eyebrows as if to say _isn’t she the coolest chick you’ve ever seen?_

“Cassandra, this is my friend, the Nokk.”

“… _Wow_.” Cassandra breathed, dumbfounded. The Nokk tilted its head at her, and Cassandra’s stomach flipped as it took a quiet step out of the stream. Its glowing eyes were serious and made Cassandra’s skin crawl as they seemed to stare into her soul.

“We have a new friend with us today. Her name is Cassandra. She’s going to come riding with us.” Elsa spoke to the Nokk, gently stroking its watery mane. She led the Nokk back to Cassandra and Honeymaren, and once she was standing next to it, she could feel the cold mist emanating off its rippling body.

“So, we’re racing, right, Cass?” Honeymaren snapped Cassandra out of her awestruck trance. “Elsa can’t race because the Nokk is super fast and it’s basically cheating.”

Elsa hadn’t raced anyone in a while. She was more than down for the challenge of racing bareback, even if she knew her legs would ache that evening. “Sure,” she smirked at Honeymaren. “What are the stakes?”

“If you win, I’ll give you a kiss.” Honeymaren flipped her braid dramatically. Cassandra knew she was joking, but she wondered how much of it was really just a joke to Honeymaren.

“Sounds like a punishment to me,” Cassandra countered, finally comfortable enough around Honeymaren to flirt back without looking like a total fool. Although she was still receiving mixed signals from Elsa, she didn’t seem to object to her pursuing Honeymaren, so she figured it was fair game. “There doesn’t have to be stakes other than your pride being on the line.”

Cassandra silently prayed that her riding skills would come through for her on this and back up her boasting.

“Alright then. The loser gets to live with the shame of being a pathetic failure for the rest of her life.” Honeymaren grinned and pointed to the opposite end of the clearing, where there was a small gap between the surrounding trees. “Over there starts a wide path through the woods that loops back around over there,” she said, pointing to another gap slightly further down the clearing. “whoever makes it back first wins.”

“You’re _on_.”

♡♡♡

After a brief period of adjustment for Cassandra to get used to the strange sensation of sitting on top of a reindeer and clutching onto the thick mat of fur where its mane should be, the two women blasted off into the woods as soon as Ryder said “go,” with Elsa trotting along behind them on the Nokk. _I guess she really does like nature,_ Cassandra thought, stooped low on the reindeer as she tugged on its fur to direct it to jump over a log that had fallen into the path. Her heart pounded in her chest as she flew through the woods, neck-and-neck with Honeymaren, who was similarly clinging to her reindeer. Her eyes bore a searing focus that revealed how seriously she was really taking the race.

On two reindeer running as fast as they could, the path only took about five minutes before they both burst back into the clearing. Ryder, who had been waiting at the entrance to declare a winner, shook his head in disbelief.

“Holy hell, that was so fast that I couldn’t even see it.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It’s a dead tie.”

“What? You little twerp, I’ll kick your ass if you’re lying to me.” Honeymaren’s reindeer echoed her anger and kicked into the air.

“I’m not! Just go again to break the tie.” Cassandra didn’t need to hear anything else; she had already burst off back into the woods, and she heard Honeymaren shout an indignant “ _Hey!”_ behind her.

_I haven’t forgotten how to ride bareback. Or how to play dirty,_ thought Cassandra as she followed the trail once again, this time familiar with it and knowing when to pivot over small obstacles in her way. She seemed to take a significant lead over Honeymaren, because when she whipped her head around to look at her, she couldn’t see her chasing after her. Cassandra _hmph_ ed triumphantly, but faltered when she turned back to the path and saw a squirrel in the middle of the path ahead, nibbling on an acorn, unaware of the thundering hooves and the gory demise that were barreling towards it.

_Shit—_

Cassandra tugged hard on the reindeer’s fur to dodge the poor creature, but as she pulled she lost her grip on the steed, her momentum twisting her body; as the reindeer leapt to the side, she lost her balance entirely and was catapulted off, landing hard on her butt. She felt her teeth clack against her skull as her body slammed into the ground.

The reindeer, in the same way that a frightened horse would, kept running down the path without its rider.

_Shit. Guess I lost, then._ Cassandra begrudgingly stood, and wiped the dirt off her clothes.

Honeymaren came trotting up behind her and hopped off her reindeer. “What happened?”

“There was a squirrel on the path and I got knocked off.” Cassandra looked around, wondering where the damn thing had scurried off to. “You win, fair and square.”

“Aw, the valiant knight Cassandra sacrificed herself to save a poor, innocent squirrel! How brave of you!” Honeymaren laughed. She slapped the reindeer’s rear end, prompting it to run off along the path.

“What did you do that for?” Cassandra was secretly hoping she could somehow smoothly convince Honeymaren to let her ride back to the clearing with her, for the purely selfish reason that she found the idea of clinging onto Honeymaren’s toned back very intriguing.

“I think it’s time for your punishment.” Honeymaren turned and stalked towards Cassandra, suddenly serious.

“What? We decided no punishments. I’m just a big loser, remember?” Cassandra instinctively stepped backwards as Honeymaren stepped forward, until her back hit a tree behind her.

"So…” Honeymaren reached out and placed her hand on the tree by Cassandra’s head, trapping her with her arm. Her eyes looked hungry and the sweat gleaned on her skin from the tough ride. “are you saying you don’t want to kiss me right now?”

Cassandra sputtered. She had been fantasizing that _she_ would be the dominant one when she finally was with a girl like this, but now that she was in the moment, her heart was hammering in her chest thinking about all the things Honeymaren could do with the hand pinning her to the tree. She took a deep breath and decided to risk it all.

“I-I do.” Cassandra choked, “I do… want to.” Honeymaren smirked. Cassandra was relieved that Honeymaren sensed her anxiety and leaned in, because Cassandra was so nervous that her body felt glued to the tree.

Their lips met and Cassandra watched Honeymaren’s eye flutter shut, her long eyelashes tickling her cheek just below her eye. Cassandra closed her eyes too; she was new to this whole kissing thing, so she figured that’s what she was supposed to do. They kissed softly, and Cassandra’s mind spun.

_This is what kissing feels like? It’s kind of weird. But good weird. And hot. She’s hot. This is hot. Am I supposed to breathe through my nose or hold my breath? What did Raps and Eugene do when I saw them kiss? Ew, wait, no, don’t think about Raps and Eugene kissing. Woah, she smells so good._

Cassandra was suddenly acutely aware of the sounds their lips were making, and tried to pay attention to the quiet sounds of the forest instead. Honeymaren moved closer to Cassandra, pressing their bodies together and shoving her knee between Cassandra’s legs. Cassandra felt Honeymaren’s tongue against her lips and she exhaled through her nose as she opened her teeth, allowing Honeymaren to deepen the kiss. Feeling awkward with her hands, she reached up to thread her fingers through Honeymaren’s hair, but remembered it was still tied in her tight braid, so she settled for cupping Honeymaren’s cheek instead. The knee between her legs ground upwards into her and Cassandra moaned embarrassingly into Honeymaren’s mouth.

Cassandra pulled back to take a breath. “Is this okay?” she breathed, and Cassandra nodded eagerly in response. Honeymaren’s hands, including the one that had been resting firmly on the tree, traveled down to clutch Cassandra’s waist. “Can I…touch you?”

Cassandra nodded again, and Honeymaren kissed her again. This time Cassandra’s eyes closed without having to think about it. _I could get used to this…_

Honeymaren’s hands smoothed over Cassandra’s crumbled shirt, which had become disheveled when she was thrown off her reindeer. She gently pulled the tucked hem out from Cassandra’s pants and slid her hands underneath her shirt, and Cassandra shivered feeling her cold fingers against her skin. Honeymaren gently felt her way to Cassandra’s back, moving as if tracing small shapes with her fingers. Honeymaren hummed into the kiss as she slid her hand’s up and down Cassandra’s back, and Cassandra’s stomach burned red-hot with desire.

In the distance, Honeymaren heard a faint, but steadily approaching noise—the snap of twigs and the thud of the earth beneath a horse's hooves. Suddenly remembering herself, she shoved Honeymaren off of her.

“Elsa’s coming,” she gaped awkwardly, and Honeymaren giggled.

“Sorry. I got a little carried away.” Honeymaren straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair. Cassandra’s face was on fire, but she tried to do the same anyways.

Lo and behold, Elsa came trotting up on the Nokk. “There you are. Your reindeer came running up behind me and lapped me with no one riding them. I figured the two of you got into a fist fight over who won.”

“I won.” Honeymaren grinned coyly. “We came to a peaceful consensus.”

“Ah. So Cassandra, I suppose that makes you the shameful loser.”

“…Yep. I’m a big loser today.” Cassandra rubbed her neck. She was not adjusting back to normal conversation as quickly as she had hoped she would.

“Absolutely, haha! What a loser…” Honeymaren lightly punched Cassandra’s shoulder. An awkward silence descended over the group.

“Cassandra, your shirt’s come untucked.” Elsa noticed. She didn’t have any malice or suspicion in her voice, but Cassandra still floundered.

“She had an itch on her back that she couldn’t reach, so I helped her scratch it.” Honeymaren’s wicked grin was unaffected by Cassandra’s firm kick to her shins.

“…Right, well,” Elsa continued, “The Nokk won’t let anyone else ride with me, so you two will have to walk back to the clearing. See you in a bit. _Hyah!_ ” Elsa spurred the Nokk and took off along the path, presumably still full of energy after walking the entire path instead of racing. Silence engulfed the two remaining women again.

“…Race you back to the clearing!” Honeymaren took off on foot in the same direction. Momentarily stunned, Cassandra watched her run for a second before shaking herself out of it and bolting after her.

“Hey, no fair!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized while writing this that it makes literally no sense for Cass to be traveling on foot and not on a horse. I couldn't think of any good explanation as to why she would've left Corona without her horse, so I just left it hoping no one would notice. Oops.


	5. Moon-Gazing

When they arrived back at the camp in late afternoon, Cassandra was still reeling from the kiss with Honeymaren. The three women had ridden through all the easily accessible paths near the camp at least thrice each, only because Honeymaren didn’t trust Cassandra to not get knocked off her reindeer again if they went off-road. Cassandra was slightly offended, but she didn’t want to risk Honeymaren teasing her about the kiss in front of Elsa, so she didn’t press it any further.

Her mind couldn’t stop replaying the kiss over and over again, from the moment she fell off the reindeer to the moment she pushed Honeymaren away. Her head spun when she imagined Honeymaren’s hands tugging her shirt out of her pants and teasing her back. _What would have happened if Elsa hadn’t come to find us?_

_Elsa…_

Cassandra felt conflicted in a way she never imagined she’d be lucky enough to feel. She was spending her time with two incredible women who both seemed somewhat into her, and one of them had even kissed her. That was farther than Cassandra could’ve dreamed of going in Corona. But what would she say if Elsa pursued her further? Would she push her away, knowing that Honeymaren already had eyes for her? Would she be able to resist?

What would a relationship with either woman even look like? Would she have to move to the Northuldra camp permanently? Would the Northuldra accept her? What were Northuldran wedding traditions like?

_Okay, I’m definitely getting ahead of myself here._

Luckily for Cassandra, it was already time for dinner. The camp was steaming with the smell of a giant wild pig being roasted on a stick over an open flame, and Cassandra’s mouth watered involuntarily. Her pride had stopped her from asking for food for breakfast or lunch, so she was once again starving.

“For the Northuldra, autumn is the season of prosperity,” Elsa explained, waving hello to the group of Northuldra tending to the fire that lapped at the pig’s massive body. “We get to feast on wild boar practically every night.”

“Funny, I couldn’t seem to find anything to eat when I was traveling through these woods alone.” Cassandra said, trying to mask the bitterness in her voice.

"Perhaps you didn’t know where to look.” Elsa turned to look at Cassandra, her face serious. If Honeymaren had said the same thing, she would have been annoyed, but something about the way Elsa spoke revealed her genuineness. “There’s a lot more to the forest than you might think. I wouldn’t have come to live here if there wasn’t.”

Cassandra rubbed her neck awkwardly. “I suppose so.”

A few minutes of hustling and bustling later, the Northuldra tending to the fire (presumably the cooks) had successfully distributed gigantic plates of food around the camp, and the villagers settled into small groups to eat and chat. Once again, Cassandra used every ounce of strength she had left in her not to stuff her face with her food and to try and remember her manners in front of Elsa and Honeymaren.

The three sat on a leather blanket in a quieter spot along the edge of the camp. Honeymaren offered wine again, but Cassandra sheepishly declined, opting to just stick to water instead. _I don’t need any more embarrassing dance montages._

Cassandra felt surprisingly comfortable sitting and talking with them, despite how her stomach flip-flopped every time she remembered the kiss. The chatted about random topics and even gossiped about a few of the villagers, and Cassandra learned more than she had ever wanted to know about the burgeoning love affair between Ryder and some other Northuldra boy whose name she immediately forgot. It wasn’t that she didn’t care; it was more so that she had never been the type to enjoy small talk.

This led to Cassandra zoning out of the conversation while watching the cooks continue to saw flesh off the massive boar. She watched, mesmerized, as two cooks yanked on the boar’s last remaining leg, trying and failing to rip it off.

“What do you think, Cass?” Honeymaren asked suddenly, just as the two cooks finally succeeded in de-legging the boar.

Cassandra didn’t bother pretending. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening at all.”

Honeymaren looked indignant, while Elsa laughed. “I admire that about you,” Elsa said. “You wear your heart on your sleeve and you always say exactly what you’re thinking.”

Honeymaren groaned. “She’s just like Anna. I bet the two of you would get along.”

“Who’s Anna?”

“Oh, only _the queen of Arendelle,_ ” Honeymaren nudged her arm. “You know, even for a traveler, you’re a bit clueless about these things.”

“Sorry. I had… a lot of stuff going on last year.” That wasn’t a lie, even though it barely scratched the surface of the whole truth. “I’ve not heard much about Arendellian politics since…well, since the world found out about Elsa’s powers, I guess.”

“Well, there’s not much after that, I suppose,” Elsa cocked her head as if thinking. “The short version is that I realized my powers are much better suited to looking after the spirits of nature than they are to writing laws and attending meetings.”

Cassandra nodded in agreement, but Honeymaren shook her head. “That is like, the _shortest_ short version I have ever heard. You could write a whole book about what’s happened since your coronation. Or two.”

“Well, maybe when we go to visit Arendelle I’ll have Olaf write down my memoir for me.” Elsa chuckled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Who’s Olaf?”

Honeymaren groaned again, and Elsa laughed again.

♡♡♡

After the sun had finally set and most of the villagers had returned to their tents, Honeymaren decided to head to bed early, evidently tired from riding most of the day. Cassandra was exhausted too, and her knuckles were sore from clutching desperately onto the reindeer fur, but as usual, she pretended to be entirely unfazed.

“Goodnight, Elsa. Cass.” Honeymaren said, gaze lingering on Cassandra for a few moments longer than necessary. But just as Cassandra opened her mouth to say something, she turned and skipped away towards the tents.

“What do you think of Honeymaren?” Elsa asked suddenly, momentarily startling Cassandra.

She thought for a moment before responding. “She makes me feel…comfortable. Despite the fact that I don’t really know her that well.” She watched as Honeymaren ducked into one of the tents, following behind another Northuldra woman around her age.

Elsa hummed. “I felt the same way when I met her.” Her voice was soft and sounded as delicate as the icy riding cape that Cassandra had neatly folded and placed in her bag earlier that day. “She was actually intrinsic to me figuring out who I was and leaving Arendelle.”

“Convincing a queen to abdicate the throne? What a woman!” Cassandra joked. Elsa laughed, and Cassandra relished in the sound of it.

“It wasn’t like that. She helped me discover that I’m…” Elsa stopped, and sucked in a small gasp, as if remembering something. “I have something to show you.”

Before Cassandra could protest, Elsa stood up and ushered Cassandra to stand as well. She wrapped up the blanket they were sitting on in one hand, then took Cassandra’s hand in the other and led her into the trees, away from the dying light of the campfire. They were off the main paths, but Elsa walked with purpose, and Cassandra trusted her to lead her through the dark woods.

Cassandra’s heart thumped loudly in her chest as she clung to Elsa’s cool fingers. She hoped her hands weren’t sweaty.

A few minutes away from the camp, Elsa suddenly stopped, and looked up. There was a gap in the leaves overhead just big enough to see the sky overhead. Speckles of silver stars littered the view, and the moon was just barely visible at the edge of the leaves, creeping steadily into view as it passed overhead.

“This is one of my favorite spots in the forest.” She laid the blanket on the floor and sat down, head tilted up at the sky. Cassandra followed suit.

“I’m not really one for star-gazing.” Cassandra said shifting into a comfortable position. “Rapun… _The queen_ used to be really into this kind of thing. But I didn’t really get it.”

“We aren’t star-gazing. We’re _moon-_ gazing.” Elsa pointed to the edge of the moon. “If I’m not mistaken, tonight is a full moon. This spot has the best view in the entire forest. And it’s far enough from the camp that no one will come bother us.” 

Cassandra bit her lip, trying to ignore the implication of that sentence.

“Well, alright then.” Cassandra looked up at the stars, then back at Elsa. Her face was basking in the soft moonlight, and she looked, for once, startlingly human—her thick white hair was slightly disheveled from the long day they’d had, and she’d unbuttoned her tight riding shirt a few buttons, giving her a casual appearance that looked strange on such an elegant woman. She seemed fixated on the sky above, her big blue eyes flickering between stars, as if unable to choose her favorite one. Cassandra looked back up at the sky, but felt slightly disappointed when the stars didn’t entertain her as much as looking at Elsa did.

“So… what was it like working for Queen Rapunzel?” Elsa asked suddenly, not looking away from the sky.

Cassandra grit her teeth. This was why she hated small talk—how could she make pleasant conversation about Rapunzel without accidentally revealing that she had fallen in love with her and then stolen a magical rock and tried to kill her and destroy her kingdom?

She took a deep breath. “She was wonderful. Very kind. Always saw the best in people even when they couldn’t see it themselves.” Her tone sounded cold and angry, belying the meaning of her words.

“Was she…the one you loved?” Elsa finally turned to look at Cassandra, and her eyes bore deep into her soul. Cassandra knew it wasn’t a very difficult conclusion to come to, but she was still ashamed that Elsa had gotten it correct on the first guess.

Cassandra sighed, and fixed her eyes on the sliver of moon that was beginning to cross over the edge of the leaves. “Yes.”

“I understand.” Elsa said. “I met the queen years ago, at my coronation. She was kind and beautiful. So I understand why you would…” she trailed off. Cassandra was relieved that she hadn’t finished the thought, because the words hurt too badly to hear spoken out loud.

A heavy silence descended over the two as the moon ticked closer to the center of the sky.

“I’m sorry,” Elsa said, and Cassandra met her eyes this time. “It must have been very painful.”

Cassandra was taken aback; she had been expecting Elsa to apologize for prying too deep into a topic she was clearly uncomfortable talking about, not to apologize for her heartbreak. “…Thanks? I guess.” Cassandra wished she would just shut up and go back to staring at the stars and being pretty. And silent.

"Really, I mean it,” Elsa scooted closer to her on the blanket, and rested her hand on top of Cassandra’s. “You have this air of sadness around you. I can feel it. My _magic_ can feel it.”

Cassandra leaned away. “Your magic can feel my sadness?”

Elsa chuckled. “Not like that. I just sense this great darkness hanging over you. Stronger than I’ve ever felt on a mortal human before.” Cassandra’s stomach sank as she realized it could be some kind of weird leftover magic from the Moonstone.

“I just want you to know that you can stay here for as long as you need to,” Elsa squeezed her hand. “Even forever, if you want.”

Cassandra laughed uncomfortably. “Hey, not everyone is as willing to abdicate the throne as you are.” She was relieved when Elsa smiled. She had successfully dodged the heavy feelings talk.

“Okay, maybe you’re right,” Elsa looked back up at the sky. The moon was around three-quarters of the way across the edge of the leaves now. “Really, though. Think it over.”

Silence descended over them again, but it was much lighter this time.

“In a week, I’m going to travel to Arendelle to visit my sister, and to deal with some political things,” Elsa said. “You should come with me. Honeymaren might tag along too. Perhaps you’ll find something fulfilling in Arendelle.”

“Maybe. And if not, at least I can try out one of those nude saunas you guys have.” she grinned at Elsa. Honeymaren’s humor had been rubbing off on her, it seemed.

“Really, I can’t believe Coronans care so much about nudity! It’s only natural! Why am _I_ the weird one?” she leaned her head on Cassandra’s shoulder, and Cassandra could smell her soft hair.

_Oh my god, stop smelling her hair! I am such a creep!_

Cassandra’s heart was pounding again. She prayed Elsa couldn’t hear it.

The moon was almost fully over the edge of the leaves now.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable this morning.” Elsa mumbled quietly. “I’m not very good with people.”

“ _You’re_ not good with people?!” Cassandra was dumbfounded. “You’re like, the most beautiful, elegant, put-together person I have ever seen in my _life_!”

Elsa chuckled softly. “Thank you. But it’s a front. On the inside, I’m like a terrified baby animal waiting for its mother to come save it.”

Cassandra was in disbelief that Elsa could feel so fragile inside, but the more she thought about it, the more she believed it could be true. Perhaps that’s why she felt so comfortable around Elsa—they were the same, deep down: putting on a tough front so that no one would figure out how scared they really were.

"Well, you’re still beautiful. Even if you’re scared on the inside.” Cassandra suddenly noticed she had been holding her breath.

“Thank you. You’re very kind, Cassandra.” Kind was not a word that Cassandra would normally use to describe herself, so hearing it from Elsa surprised her. It made her cheeks warm up.

“Cassandra…” Elsa turned to meet her eyes, closing the gap between them until their faces were mere inches apart. Elsa’s icy gaze flickered between Cassandra’s eyes and her lips. “Can I kiss you?”

Cassandra sucked in a breath. _Am I really going to do this?_

_…What the fuck. You only live once._

Cassandra gave a small nod, and Elsa closed the gap entirely, their lips meeting softly and their eyes fluttering shut. Once again, Cassandra’s mind was racing with thoughts.

_Oh my god, this is happening. This is HAPPENING. She smells so good. This feels so good. I hope I’m doing this right. I don’t know what to do with my hands. I hope this is good. Maybe I should touch her hair. What if she doesn’t like people touching her hair? I’ve been dying to touch her hair all day! Maybe I should—_

Before she could decide what to do, Elsa thankfully decided for her and gently pulled her leg over her so that Cassandra was sitting on her lap. She cupped Cassandra’s face with both of her hands, as if holding her there. Cassandra moaned when she felt Elsa’s tongue against her lips. She felt a wave of embarrassment roll over her when Elsa laughed into the kiss, her hands dropping to grab Cassandra’s, which were floating awkwardly at her sides, not knowing where to go. Elsa guided Cassandra’s hands to her shoulders and reached back down to clutch her waist. The touch prompted a small noise out of the back of her throat and Cassandra mentally screamed at herself for being so damn _noisy._

Their lips parted, and Cassandra hungrily gulped for air. She had forgotten to breathe through her nose this time. As she caught her breath, Elsa reached up and untied the braids that had been in her hair since the night before, combing her fingers through her hair.

“Can I…touch your hair, too?” Cassandra fumbled over her words. Elsa giggled at her hesitation.

“Of course.” After a moment, when Cassandra didn’t move, Elsa took one of her hands and moved it into her hair. It felt as silky and soft as it looked. Cassandra exhaled and wiggled her fingers experimentally, feeling the strands as they shifted against her skin.

Elsa hummed softly and planted a kiss next to Cassandra’s mouth, then one on her jaw, moving down to her neck. She kissed harder, lightly sucking on the skin, and when Cassandra felt her teeth brush against her, she couldn’t hold back the loud moan that erupted from deep within her.

Elsa laughed again, the sound muffled by her mouth attached to Cassandra’s neck. “Quit _laughing_ at me!” Cassandra groaned. “I’m _embarrassed!”_

Elsa planted another kiss on Cassandra’s cheek. “Why? Your sounds are so beautiful.”

Cassandra knew her face was probably already bright red, but she felt it heat up even more. “Jeez…” Elsa didn’t seem to have a disingenuous bone in her body. Cassandra decided to muster up the courage to kiss her again if it meant shutting her up.

Sitting on top of Elsa and lapping at her lips like this, Cassandra felt exposed and vulnerable, but it was also exciting in a way she had never thought about. As a more masculine-leaning girl, she had always assumed she was the _knight._ She was the one who was going to sweep her fair maiden off her feet someday. She had never imaged _herself_ in a position like…this.

Cassandra arched her back as Elsa’s hands wandered down to her hips, and then her thighs. She moaned again, and felt Elsa grin into the kiss. It was getting hard to ignore the urgent pressure rising between her legs. She wondered if Elsa felt it too.

Elsa pulled back from the kiss and rested her forehead against Cassandra’s, breathing heavily. “Is this okay?” Cassandra nodded desperately. “Can I…go further?”

Cassandra gripped Elsa’s hair tightly. “ _Yes,_ god,” at this point she was too desperate to feel shy anymore. “Show me what to do.”

Elsa grinned maniacally. The expression looked so out of place on Elsa’s regal features that Cassandra was momentarily dumbfounded. That is, until Elsa started unbuckling Cassandra’s pants. _Were my pants always this tight?_

Finally getting the buckle open, Elsa slipped her hand into Cassandra’s pants, and Cassandra let out another loud moan. _I really never took myself for a screamer. This is fucking embarrassing._

For a woman with magic ice powers, Elsa’s fingers were surprisingly warm. She rubbed Cassandra’s clit over her underwear, and Cassandra moaned again. The delicious friction was making her head spin and she fumbled with Elsa’s shirt, yanking it out from her pants and shoving her hand inside, not bothering to tediously undo the buckle of Elsa’s fancy riding suit. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt Elsa’s soft hair on her hand instead of her lacy underwear—she had plunged her hand a layer deeper than she had meant to.

Capturing Elsa’s mouth in a desperate kiss, she pushed her hand further down and felt Elsa’s wetness. She tried rubbing it in a circle like Elsa was doing for her, and Elsa groaned. Cassandra’s mind faltered at the realization that _she_ had drawn that sound from Elsa.

“Slower,” Elsa gasped, and Cassandra obliged, slowing the rhythm of her movement. Elsa moaned approvingly.

“Your nails are fucking long.” Elsa cursed, rubbing harder on Cassandra’s clit. As if punishing her, Elsa attacked Cassandra’s neck again, sucking and nibbling at the skin. Elsa’s other hand reached up underneath the loose hem of Cassandra’s shirt to play with her nipples, flicking and teasing them in a way that made Cassandra cry out.

Elsa’s fingers slipped beneath her underwear now, and Cassandra felt the soft texture of her skin suddenly touching her sensitive clit. She rubbed it delicately between two fingers to let her get used to the sensation, and gradually pressed harder. Cassandra was practically putty in her hands, moaning and gasping and twitching at every touch. She prayed to god no insomniac Northuldra villager would come wandering this way and discover her like this.

To retaliate, Cassandra rubbed harder on Elsa’s clit, Cassandra felt her rich groan vibrate against her neck. The sound brought Cassandra closer, and she gasped, “E-Elsa, I’m gonna—“

“Not yet.” Elsa’s hand suddenly stopped moving, and her blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. “You have to make me come first.”

Never in all of Cassandra’s days had she imagined a woman like Elsa would say that absolute filth to her, and she loved every moment of it.

“O-Okay,” Cassandra was suddenly self-conscious, despite moaning like a whore just a moment ago. She kissed Elsa again, moving her fingers and gaining back her old rhythm, and Elsa hummed approvingly.

“Harder,” she whispered, and Cassandra moaned again. _Why the hell am I so turned on when she isn’t even touching me?_ Cassandra obliged, pressing hard onto her clit and rubbing in fast circles. Elsa’s breath quickened, and Cassandra decided to be brave and reach up to play with her breasts. This must’ve been good, because Elsa shuddered and groaned, so Cassandra squeezed one of her nipples and rubbed in circles, in time with the hand rubbing her clit.

“ _Fuck,_ Cass,” The curse words rolling off of Elsa’s tongue were deliciously filthy. Cassandra knew she was close, so she rubbed as hard and fast as she could. Cassandra felt Elsa’s legs tense up beneath her as her orgasm took over her body, and she continued to rub her through it, until her breath hitched and she grabbed Cassandra’s wrist, evidently too sensitive to handle it anymore.

“…Was that good?”

Elsa didn’t answer and instead engulfed her mouth in a kiss, shoving her hand back down her pants. This time her hand wasn’t slow and gentle—she didn’t wait for her to adjust to the sensation, and Cassandra cried out as Elsa’s fingers rubbed hard against her clit.

“You deserve a reward.” Suddenly Elsa flipped her around and laid her back on the ground, straddling her waist. She crawled backwards, hooking Cassandra’s unbuckled pants with her hands and yanking them down to her knees as she went. When Elsa planted a hot kiss on Cassandra’s inner thigh, it suddenly dawned on her what the reward was.

Cassandra cried out as Elsa’s tongue touched her clit, flicking it back and forth before sucking gently with her soft lips. One hand gripped Cassandra’s thigh and the other pushed her loose shirt up over her breasts, and she left it that way; Cassandra noticed she could easily just take it off at this point, but it somehow felt more erotic like this. Cassandra’s hand tangled itself in Elsa’s soft hair, and when Elsa’s eyes looked up to meet Cassandra’s, her body convulsed involuntarily.

“Elsa, oh my _god,_ harder. Don’t stop, fuck,” Cassandra babbled all kinds of filthy things that she had never imagined could’ve come out of her mouth. She was dangerously close now.

“Elsa, please…please let me come.” Elsa looked up again, and only lifted her lips for a moment to whisper the words that sent Cassandra over the edge.

“Come for me.”

Elsa sucked hard on her clit, and Cassandra’s thighs tensed up as the orgasm shook through her body, her back arching. She threw her head back, squeezed her eyes shut and screamed _loud_ , and she knew someone probably heard, but she was too far gone to care. Elsa continued to lick and suck as Cassandra rode out the orgasm. When Cassandra finally opened her eyes, she found herself looking up at the moon overhead, huge and brilliant against the pitch black night sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, had to bump up the rating again. Sorry, Mom and Dad, your child is a heathen. 
> 
> BTW, thank you all so much for your lovely comments! I read all of them even though I usually can't find the words to reply. I love you all so much!

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, my first fic since 2018! I have a lot of ideas planned for this story and it's going to be a pretty long one. Expect lots of lesbians and Cass being Cass. Anna and Kristoff will (eventually) make and appearance as well. Hope you enjoy this and I hope I don't abandon it!


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